State May Lose Fight, Batt Says Federal Government Wants Inel As Permanent Dump

Gov. Phil Batt on Thursday hinted at the possibility that Idaho may lose its fight against the federal government turning the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory into a permanent nuclear waste dump.

But while that possibility exists, Batt said later in the day “that doesn’t mean we won’t fight hard, and that’s a fight I intend to pursue vigorously.”

In response to a question at the Idaho Hospital Association’s legislative conference, Batt said he agreed last week to allow the Navy to ship eight more loads of radioactive waste to the INEL in an attempt to bring the issue of permanent dumps in other states to a head.

Instead of waging a court fight he was sure the state would lose, Batt secured a renewed federal commitment to open permanent waste dumps in Nevada and New Mexico. The new Republican governor maintained he had no choice under the court-approved agreement negotiated with the Navy by retired Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus and that he believed in the integrity of the federal officials with whom he was dealing.

“I don’t intend to be a patsy,” he told the hospital administrators. “They’ll find out I have a tough side, too. … If Idaho is then overpowered and we’re going to be the repository, we need to know it and be compensated for it.”

In that case, he predicted the state would secure billions of dollars in compensation for the safety and other problems that would have to be addressed if the INEL were turned into a permanent nuclear dump.

The governor raised the same concerns in a letter to the state’s Republican congressional delegation that was released late Thursday.

But he also said he did not believe the state would lose its fight against becoming a permanent dump, and he urged the four lawmakers to keep the issue high on their agendas.

Batt admitted his decision, a reversal of the stand Andrus had taken since focusing national attention on the waste disposal issue six years ago, was politically unpopular and subjected him to substantial criticism.

However, he said, “I did what I thought was right for the state.”

He contended the shipments were authorized under the national security clause of the Andrus agreement because refusing them would have delayed refueling of a nuclear aircraft carrier, limiting America’s ability to respond to a crisis anywhere in the world.

“We’re always going to have this problem until the permanent repositories are open,” Batt said. “The ultimate goal has to be not having us looked at as the only place they can put that.”